Today we continue our series “God is faithful!” The Lord led me to 2 Corinthians 4. In this passage, we are looking at what it looks like to believe God is faithful. Because of God’s faithfulness towards us, we can withstand and overcome anything!
For days we have been looking at verse 13. We will go back to it again today.
(2 Corinthians 4:1, 7-13, 16-18 TPT)
1 Now, it’s because of God’s mercy that we have been entrusted with the privilege of this new covenant ministry. And we will not quit or faint with weariness.
7 We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
8 Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
9 We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.
10 We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
11 We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
12 So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.
13 We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in the Scriptures when it says, “First I believed, then I spoke in faith.” So we also first believe then speak in faith.
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
17 We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison,
18 because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
I got stuck on verse 13 for weeks. Today we shift our focus to verse 16. The text says:
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
Setting the stage:
Verse 16 opens with the words, “So no wonder we don’t give up.” If you look at it in context, the Apostle Paul is talking about everything he said leading up to this point. And then, of course, He is preparing us for what he’s about to say next. So let’s look at the passage from this lens.
Leading up to verse 16, the Apostle Paul talks about the glorious treasure God put down inside of us. This glorious treasure is the Holy Spirit. Paul then talks about how we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can withstand and overcome anything. Verses 8-13 are very applicable to us today. They deal with the challenges we must face and overcome.
The last 18 months have been hard for many. I talk to people all the time who have genuinely struggled since COVID began. Some are struggling with their mental health.
Some can’t sleep. Some are dealing with having lost loved ones. Others experienced an economic downturn when the pandemic started, and it created a hole they are still trying to get out of.
The truth is that life is not always easy. You could make the argument that life is hard. If anyone had a hard life, it was Paul. Paul knows what it looks like to face challenge after challenge. I believe this is why the Apostle Paul puts so much emphasis on God, His grace, and His Spirit.
Do you get what Paul is saying in this passage? God put His immeasurable power down on the inside of us. God did this so the power we walk in could be His and not ours. God put His immeasurable power down on the inside of us so we can rely on the Holy Spirit every day and not just live as mere humans. If you live your life based on human strength alone, then Jesus is irrelevant to you, and the Holy Spirit is an untapped source in your life. Wouldn’t it be a shame for Jesus to die on the cross, just to get the Holy Spirit back inside of humanity, and then for you, who are Born-again and filled with God’s Spirit, to go on living as a mere man?
To be clear, you cannot accomplish what God sent you to this planet to accomplish without Him! You cannot fulfill your divine assignment and maximize the purpose and potential God placed in you by living as a mere human. If you don’t rely on God, you will quickly realize that you are not smart enough or strong enough. You won’t be able to deal with the pressures of this present world. You will buckle under the pressure of the opposition. But if you rely on God and His grace, if you tap into the Holy Spirit and His power, you will be able to withstand and overcome anything. Because at that point, stopping you would mean stopping God, and God cannot be stopped!
I am laying the foundation for what I will teach for the next few days, from verse 16.
So what does this mean for you today? I have already given you a great deal, but I will share a few quick nuggets.
— We, as humans, are finite. We are flawed. We are limited at best. But when we tap into the immeasurable power God placed on the inside of us, there is nothing we can’t do.
— We were born as mere humans. We were Born-again to be super-human.
— Once we are Born-Again, God’s “super” is placed inside of our “natural.” At the point, the supernatural is natural to us.
— When we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, 2 Cor 4:8,9 makes sense to us.
8 Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
9 We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.
— One of the things I drove over the last few weeks was the importance of speaking life and not death through challenging times. We get this from verse 2 Cor 4:13.
13 We have the same Spirit of faith that is described in the Scriptures when it says, “First I believed, then I spoke in faith.” So we also first believe then speak in faith.
— No Word from God is without the power to perform it. When we speak the Word, and we believe what we are saying, we tap into the power of God’s Word. We set our faith in agreement, on the earth, so the earth can come in alignment with heaven.
— This all leads us to verse 16. The Apostle Paul says, “So no wonder we don’t give up!” When we’re relying on God, focused on tapping into his grace and allowing Him to live through us, we cannot give up. The text says that our outer person is gradually wearing out, but our inner person is being renewed every single day.
I will teach on 2 Cor 4:16 for the next few days. I was just laying the groundwork this morning.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of LEVELING UP for me. I LEVEL UP by embracing the power of Your Spirit. You live inside of me. I was born as a mere man. But I was Born-Again. I am born from above. You put Your glorious treasure down inside of me. I now get to live as a human conduit of the divine. As I seek to accomplish Your will on this planet, You live in me, You give me the words, and You perform the work. I yield to the Holy Spirit in all things. I am naturally supernatural. There is nothing I can’t do because there is nothing You can’t do, and You are living THROUGH me. I will never give up! GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
